Insurgents offer to halt attacks in Iraq

Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks—including those on American troops—if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials said on Wednesday.

Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks—including those on American troops—if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials said on Wednesday.

The Islamic Army in Iraq, Muhammad Army and the Mujahedeen Shura Council— the umbrella group that covers eight militant groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq—were not party to any offers to the government.

Withdrawal is the centerpiece of a set of demands from the groups, which operate north of Baghdad in the heavily Sunni Arab provinces of Salahuddin and Diyala. Although much of the fighting has been to the west, these provinces are increasingly violent and attacks here have crippled oil and commerce routes.

The groups who have made contact have largely shunned attacks on Iraqi civilians, focusing instead on US-led coalition forces. Their offer coincides with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s decision to reach out to the Sunni insurgency with a reconciliation plan that includes an amnesty for fighters.